Smoothing mushroomed tip

B

BogeyFree

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What is the best tool for sanding a mushroomed tip back to smooth and flush with the ferrule? I've been using the Ultimate Tip Tool but when I sand the edge of the tip with the side of the tool the ferrule is also being scratched by the sandpaper. Suggestions? Thanks.
 
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If you must do your own tip maintenance, use a Joe Porper’s Mushroom Grazer instead of sandpaper. The edges will still be rough. Followed up with Joe Porper’s Tip Burnisher to harden / seal those edges. The burnisher alone can sometimes pull in a mushroom without taking off material.

I’ve done my own for a year. I decided I really prefer having a cue mechanic do all my tip maintenance on the lathe. Hand tools will NEVER give nearly the same perfect result.



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MattPoland said:
...Hand tools will NEVER give nearly the same perfect result.

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Click to expand...

Horseshit. It depends on who is doing the work, and their ability.

Here is a tip I did by hand.
mooriinstalled.jpg


Lots of ways to skin the cat, a sharp razor blade will trim the mushroom off. These work very well too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072MF9YN3/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A1Z7872WID2WRD&psc=1

Lightly sand the tip with 800+ grit paper. Burnish with leather, a business card, a brown paper sack, whatever you have available. Viola, done.
 
MattPoland said:
... Hand tools will NEVER give nearly the same perfect result. ...
Click to expand...
No. Hand tools in the hands of someone who is patient and slightly inventive can produce a result that is impossible to tell from a lathe job. Few people are that patient. I need a new tip, super glue gel, several grits of sandpaper, a sharp knife, a block such as a heavy sharpening stone, pieces of printer paper, a long flat surface such as a desk, and Scotch tape and about an hour to achieve a finished tip that looks like it was done with a lathe.

If I have the time and energy I prefer to do my tips myself. I took my cue to a "professional" once and he used a chisel carelessly on his lathe to take off the extra tip and half a millimeter of ivory ferrule on an original Balabushka shaft. It is hard to find good help. I think it is not really hard to do a good job yourself but it can be tedious.
 
RiverCity said:
Horseshit. It depends on who is doing the work, and their ability.



Here is a tip I did by hand.

mooriinstalled.jpg




Lots of ways to skin the cat, a sharp razor blade will trim the mushroom off. These work very well too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072MF9YN3/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A1Z7872WID2WRD&psc=1



Lightly sand the tip with 800+ grit paper. Burnish with leather, a business card, a brown paper sack, whatever you have available. Viola, done.
Click to expand...


Wow! If that was done with hand tools, I’d venture to say it looks to good to be true. This was the best I was ever able to do by hand.

9581846823e4ab741c65c41ed383e977.jpg


QUESTION: it looks like you have a layered tip in your picture. I was under the impression that you’re not supposed to burnish those because it can compromise the glue holding the layers. I thought mechanics usually just seal the edges with CA on those.


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MattPoland said:
Wow! If that was done with hand tools, I’d venture to say it looks to good to be true. This was the best I was ever able to do by hand.

QUESTION: it looks like you have a layered tip in your picture. I was under the impression that you’re not supposed to burnish those because it can compromise the glue holding the layers. I thought mechanics usually just seal the edges with CA on those.


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Click to expand...

Here is a thread I put up some years back that might help you. As I said, lots of ways to skin a cat, you can trim the excess leather off several ways. The biggest trick is to take your time, and not try to do too much at one time.

https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=51018

As far as burnishing them, its fine as long as you dont get stupid with it. However, there are a lot of dumb motherfuggers out there. :thumbup:

Here is a non layered WB tip, done the same way.
2db65b8d.jpg


Here is a Cyborg break tip I put on by hand. A little different methodology, but similar process.
42321309685_d7dc59c4dd_c.jpg
 
RiverCity said:
Here is a thread I put up some years back that might help you. As I said, lots of ways to skin a cat, you can trim the excess leather off several ways. The biggest trick is to take your time, and not try to do too much at one time.



https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=51018



As far as burnishing them, its fine as long as you dont get stupid with it. However, there are a lot of dumb motherfuggers out there. :thumbup:



Here is a non layered WB tip, done the same way.

2db65b8d.jpg




Here is a Cyborg break tip I put on by hand. A little different methodology, but similar process.

42321309685_d7dc59c4dd_c.jpg
Click to expand...


Very impressed. VERY.

So here’s the question. Is that mastery at work or should every Tom, Dick and Harry with a credit card and PoolDawg account expect similar results with only a little patience and learning?


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MattPoland said:
Very impressed. VERY.

So here’s the question. Is that mastery at work or should every Tom, Dick and Harry with a credit card and PoolDawg account expect similar results with only a little patience and learning?


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Click to expand...

Well, I AM the motherfuggin man :thumbup: However, I did not come out of the womb knowing how to retip cues.

Its like anything else, if you want to get better at something, and you apply yourself, you can do damn near anything. I have learned how to do a lot of different things in my lifetime. But the one constant was a desire to learn how to do things. The end results come in time, but the learning process is paramount.

Some people want results, but dont want to put in the time. Some people only want to get paid at their jobs and so, they do shit work.

If you want to get good at doing tips, like I said in the thread I linked, practice. You can buy a 1/2" dowel rod and practice. You can offer to retip a bars cues for free. Whatever. It is learned, just like anything else.

One tip I would give above all else, whatever you are using to trim the leather off, needs to be razor sharp.

I wont tell you how to sharpen knives though. Job security through knowledge obscurity is my motto. ;) :thumbup:
 
RiverCity said:
Well, I AM the motherfuggin man :thumbup: However, I did not come out of the womb knowing how to retip cues.

Its like anything else, if you want to get better at something, and you apply yourself, you can do damn near anything. I have learned how to do a lot of different things in my lifetime. But the one constant was a desire to learn how to do things. The end results come in time, but the learning process is paramount.

Some people want results, but don't want to put in the time. Some people only want to get paid at their jobs and so, they do shit work.
Click to expand...

Kuddos sir! This is a great philosophy. It's one of the tenets I've tried to live my life by, and it's always held me in good stead. In every profession or lifestyle there will be craftsmen and hacks. Be a craftsman!
 
Lot of good stuff here! Some nice work done by hand. For myself, however, Mike Gulyassy is 25 minutes away!
 
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